Bunnell's Isaac Vann drives the lane against Norwalk defender Zaire Wilson in the finals of the Masuk Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament at Masuk High School in Monroe, Conn. on Monday, December 30, 2013.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Stamford native Schadrac Casimir of the South Kent School has comitted to play basketball at Iona College. March 2014.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Stamford native Schadrac Casimir of the South Kent School has...

Bridgeport Central high school's Tyler Ancrum goes up for a shot during a CIAC class LL semifinal boys basketball tournament game against Ledyard high school played at the Floyd Little Athletic Center, New Haven, CT on Wednesday, March, 19th, 2014
Photo: Mark Conrad

Turnbull, as you might've guessed, has already broken down Vann's game. After all, now that Vann's days at Bunnell are done, the electric 6-foot-5 swingman is headed to the postgraduate school to hone his game.

Vann's not alone in taking the postgraduate route, either. Ian Gardener, who scored over 1,000 career points at Kolbe Cathedral, is heading to St. Thomas More in Oakdale. Tyler Ancrum, who engineered Central to the LL state title, is attending Redemption Christian Academy in Northfield, Mass. Rewind one year, and there was Schadrac Casimir, the star from Trinity Catholic who landed at South Kent.

"It forced me to raise my game to the next level. The competition was so high," said Casimir, who committed to Division I Iona in March.

Casimir not only played against superior competition and got more exposure to scouts in his postgraduate year, but he also matured in the classroom. The speedy 5-foot-9 guard received interest from a handful of low-level Division I schools, including an offer from Sacred Heart, in his senior year at Trinity, but he also needed to improve his SAT score.

Gardener's choice is partly academic, too. He needs to up his SAT's to meet NCAA eligibility standards. The hope is, as his academic standing improves, so will his basketball prospects.

Despite averaging 21 points and eight rebounds as a senior guard, Gardener didn't receive any Division I offers. He had interest from several Division II and Division III schools but chose instead to play in the highly regarded New England Prep School Athletic Conference.

"I just felt like I probably wasn't as good," Gardener said, in providing a self-scouting report. "I had schools interested from my junior year, but they told me I needed to improve on my game."

Gardener's familiar with names like Kolbe grad T.J. Robinson, who played four years at Long Beach State (averaged 13.1 points) after spending 2008 at St. Thomas More. Former Kolbe and St. Thomas More grad Dominique Langston played one season at Quinnipiac in 2011 before transferring to Southern Connecticut State.

Every athlete is different, of course, but Gardener hopes to travel a similar path to a Division I school. He said the interest on the other end has picked up since his commitment, as Wichita State, Western Kentucky, Hofstra and St. Peter's have all reached out.

"He's a young kid who's got a lot of potential, a lot of athleticism," St. Thomas More coach Jere Quinn said. "He's very interested in working hard, improving himself as a student, improving himself as an athlete."

As dynamic an athlete as Vann's been, Turnbull believes that Vann's got plenty of room to grow, literally and figuratively. Not only must Vann improve physically, Turnbull said, he also must refine his defense.

"I think he can be an elite defender," the coach said. "He has all the tools. He's long, he's quick."

Vann received offers from Sacred Heart and Canisius during his senior year. Additional offers have rolled in from Iona, Ohio and Wagner. He's keeping his future options open, but in the meantime, he's looking for more exposure.

"Some guys, instead of walking in the 10th, 11th man on the roster," Turnbull said, "you're walking in top-four, top-five."

As attractive as that sounds, the trend points toward more players leaving high school earlier to attend prep schools, according to Adam Finkelstein, who runs the New England Recruiting Report. The NCAA requires students to earn at least 15 core classes (fewer if the student has a diagnosed learning disorder) in high school prior to a postgraduate school.

"I think the early prep school option already is extremely popular," Finkelstein said in an email. "Eight of our top 10 rising seniors in New England reclassified earlier in their high school careers."

That's not to show that it's the right thing for high school players to do; rather, it's showing that it's becoming more popular. Plenty of players have fared quite well by staying at their original high schools. Everyone has different needs, academically and athletically.

Quincy McKnight transferred from St. Joseph to the Phelps School in Malvern, Pa., after his junior year in the summer of 2013. McKnight missed much of the AAU circuit because of knee surgery that year, so the move to prep school afforded him more time in front of scouts later on. The 6-foot-3 guard reclassified into the Class of 2015.

A few other local prospects have already committed to prep schools according to NERR, including Fairfield Prep's Ryan Murphy (Wilbraham & Monson in Massachusetts) and Trinity's Aaron Wheeler (St. Andrew's in Rhode Island).

"More kids are starting to notice that you get the extra year," said McKnight, who's generated interest from a collection of D-I schools. "It allows more coaches to come out and see you play."